These
books treat of the Promised
Land conquest, Canaan, and the establishment of Israel in that territory. Israel had to expel several
people from the land and those people should become visceral enemies of the elected people. In the summary of Pentateuch we saw God established His
law among Israel and the relationship between Him and the people should be through the law. God required from His people obedience to His law, with promises of blessings and, on the other hand, the disobedience should bring curses (See Dt 11. 26,27,28). The success of Israel as nation should depend on the obedience to the law. From Joshua to Ester there are 12 books that reveal the ups and the downs of Israel's history. Even though the textual extension the tonic of the report is almost always the same, in others words, whenever Israel demonstrated
faith in God and obedience to His law Israel reached victories against its enemies and there was prosperity in the land; on the other hand, whenever there was not faith and the law was disobeyed Israel suffered heavy defeats and the curse was settled down in the land (As Moses had prophesied, see Dt11. 26,27,28). In the book of Joshua are highlighted the following facts: The faith and the courage of Joshua who led the conquest of Canaan by Israel, the crossing of Jordan river (That as the Red Sea the water also opened up), the fall of the walls of Jericho, the stop of the Sun and the land partition among the tribes of Israel. In the book of Judges, after the death of Joshua, Israel became led by Judges, it should stand out in this period, Gideon, for his bravery, Jephthah, for his bravery and also for the fact of having sacrificed his own daughter in holocaust, Samson for his prodigious force and his marriage with Delilah. The book of Ruth tells the history of Ruth, a woman Moabites who took refuge among the people of Israel and she got married with a man called Boaz, of the tribe of Judah, by this couple it was formed
king David's lineage, that it was the same of the Lord Jesus. The books I and II Samuel stand out the faith of Anna, who was sterile but reached the miracle and she gave birth to Samuel, the own Samuel, judge and prophet in Israel, Saul, the first king of Israel, notable in his initial performance, mainly in the battles, but he suffered great decadence for not obeying to the voice of God, his successor, king David, the man according to the God's heart, of great faith and bravery, defeated the giant Goliath and all the other enemies and he consolidated Israel in the Promised Land. The books I and II Kings stand out king Salomon, David's son, who received from God wisdom and wealth and he became the wisest and richest man in the earth, in his reign Israel reached the acme as nation and it was the most important country at that time, later Salomon disobeyed God and he had a sad decadence, and all the nation with him, they stand out the construction of the Temple of God, the prophets Elijah, who was taken up still alive, and Elisha, these two prophets made important miracles, the division of Israel in two kingdoms, Judah to the south and own Israel to the north, the invasion of the kingdom of Judah by the king of Egypt, Shishak, and the pillage of the Temple (Occasion in which the Ark of the Alliance was probably robbed and it was never again known about it, some believe it was taken to Ethiopia) (See II Cr 12), the spiritual decadence of Israel and Judah, their consequent weakness and the defeat against Nebuchadnezzar, who took the people captive to Babylon, where they stayed for 70 years as slave. The books I and II Chronicles are a repetition of I and II Kings, however with some conceptual and accessory differences. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah treat of the return of the captivity, the reconstruction of the Temple and Jerusalem and the re-establishment of the Cult. The book of Esther narrates a Hebrew woman's history that in the period of captivity of her people, Israel, found grace before king Ahasuerus, that kept the people captive, and she got married with him, due to the great prestige she had before the king, Esther got to liberate the people of Israel of a true genocide that had been schemed by Haman. It is important to highlight in the period of Historical Books the presence of the Ark of the Alliance, the presence of God and the angels giving spiritual support to the Israelis in their victories, as well as of the prophets, that spoke on behalf of God and foresaw important events, as prophet Jeremiah about the return of Israel of the captivity, in the time of the king Cyrus of Persia.
More reviews about the Historical Books: Joshua. . . etc